United States (ARC)
The United States of America was a federal republic that existed on the planet Earth with 48 states and a federal district that maintained a large and growing network of space colonies in Earth orbit and on Luna. For much of the 20th century, the United States dominated the world's economy and successfully accomplished many previously thought impossible feats like landing humans on the Moon in 1969. By the early-mid 21st century, the United States was the third largest country in size (behind the Russian Federation and Canada) and third in population (behind India and China). It was the most powerful nation in the world in both economic and military terms. In addition to this, it was on the cutting edge of technology; especially in space, military and computer technologies. Toward the mid-late 21st century, the United States was the second most powerful nation on the planet in terms of GDP (behind India but only slightly ahead of China), all three were considered the world's only superpowers during the 21st century. The United States was the leading nation in the International Treaty Organization (INTO), a successor of NATO and the UN. INTO was a global military and economic alliance, the most important in the world. INTO later extended its control onto extraterrestrial assets via the Global Oversight Committee of INTO. INTO disbanded in the early-mid 22nd century as the United States, Canada and Mexico formed a supranational government in UNA (United North America). United North America became the focal point from which the Western Coalition was created. History 21st century During the late 2000s, the U.S. suffered from the ramifications of a global economic downturn that steadily worsened and later became known as the Great Recession. The US economy eventually rebounded about a decade later leading to a prosperous era for the wealthy but lead to a prolonged era of poverty for many of the middle class. In the summer of 2017, a group of terrorists detonated a nuclear device shutting down shipping traffic in the Persian Gulf leading to an energy crisis which was eventually resolved after the bombing of an emergency economic summit in Beijing and a brief three-way conflict between the U.S., Russia and China in 2018. In July 2019, U.S. President Whitaker signed his ''World Space Exploration Initiative, ''which helped form the World Space Commission and gave birth to an era known as the New Space Race where many space-oriented activities were undertaken by governmental and private organizations. The 2020s saw intense development of Earth orbit and Lunar outposts by many of the world's leading countries though many made an active effort to assist less capable nations of achieving space travel. Toward the middle of the 21st century, the nation's influence significantly waned, but quickly rebounded when the People's Republic of China collapsed during the 2040s. The U.S. greatly benefited from the fall of Communism in China, eventually spurring a revitalization of the U.S. and returning it to the status it had originally enjoyed during the 20th century. Though this was ultimately short-lived as India quickly shot ahead of China and the United States and by the 2060s, India had become the world's number one superpower. In the latter half of the 21st century, the Earth had successfully pulled itself from the brink of environmental disaster though it had proven too late to stop many adverse effects of climate change, i.e. rising sea levels, desertification and increased rainfall in many parts of the world. The U.S. began to scale back many urban sprawls and began to build vertical super tall skyscrapers with a built-in arcologies and easy access telecommuting. In the 2070s, there were many ocean-faring cities that began levying for independent or inclusion as states of the U.S. The U.S. celebrated its tricentennial on July 4, 2076 without admitting any states, at this point, it had been 164 years since the country had last admitted a new state into its union. Due to its low height above sea level, the flood barriers in New York gave way in the 2090s, many citizens were prepared for this inevitability and were safe when the barriers fell, surviving inside the immense super tall structures that were constructed for this very reason. 22nd century All throughout the 2100s, the U.S. spent trillions in repair efforts to the Gulf Coast and surrounding southern states due to increasing supercanes. During the 22nd century, the United States joined Canada and Mexico by forming the supranational organization called United North America, after adopting a common currency with the Amero. As Mexico suffered extreme droughts and the U.S. began to suffer immense economic and demographic decline, Canada seemed to be the sole benefactor from the climate change, as a more tropical climate began to take shape. Many citizens born in North America are referred to as Northams, short for North American. Category:ARC Category:Sightings Category:Strangeland Category:Underworld Category:Offworld Category:Homeworld Category:Interplanetary Category:Timeframe